[As a result, in order to prevent the restoration of destiny, you or Javier Asrahan must die or vanish from this world.]
What...?
Lloyd froze, doubting his ears. What did he just hear?
Has it lost its mind? What nonsense did I just hear?
He hoped he heard wrong or that there was some kind of a technical glitch. But the response the Jewel of Truth gave next was as cold as the previous one.
[It is an undeniable fact. At the moment, all the errors of this world happened because you were acting as the main protagonist of the story without permission. As such, you have two choices. Die and give Javier Asrahan the position of the main protagonist. Otherwise, kill Javier Asrahan and become the rightful main protagonist.]
Lloyd turned and gave a glance at Javier, who was eyeing him with more concern on his face.
My face must have become paler.
It appeared to be. That would explain the worried expression on Javier's face, which was uncharacteristic of him. Lloyd tried to quickly put on a smile that he hoped didn't look too awkward. The Jewel of Truth, on the other hand, continued to speak as if it didn't realize what state Lloyd was in at the moment.
[Once one of you disappears, the world will finally choose the remaining person as the rightful protagonist and perceive there to be no more error to fix. That is only when the incomplete reset plan to carry out the restoration of destiny will come to a halt, and the story will develop around the existing hero.]
By this point, Lloyd was so drained that he didn't have enough energy to even sigh. Sure, he had grown vaguely concerned over the past months that the restoration of destiny was linked to his possession of Lloyd's body and the resulting change of plot. But it never occurred to him that the solution would necessitate him to make such a cruel decision.
Just tell me that I need to earn more RP to prevent the restoration of destiny. Come on.
Lloyd sincerely wanted that to be the case. He was willing to pay tens of thousands of RP if needed. No, even if it cost a whopping 100,000 RP, that would be about 100,000 times better than the solution he was given.
If that was the answer, I would just need to do more construction projects. Then, I would still have a chance to solve the issue even if it required strenuous effort and backbreaking work from me. But... I don't know what to do with this.
It was either him or Javier. One of them had to die. Vanish from the face of this world. Otherwise, the infuriating restoration of destiny would not be stopped.
What am I supposed to do now?
I don't know. I really don't know. Not a clue. Lloyd thought to himself in despair. He wasn't sure if he would be able to devise a solution.
Wait a minute... What if I die and use my benefit from Dragon King's sponsorship? And come back to life? Would it stop the restoration of destiny since I'm technically dead?
The Jewel of Truth gave an answer to Lloyd's sudden idea.
[That is impossible. Eventually, you will come to exist again in this world, so the restoration of destiny will resume as soon as you are revived.]
Dammit. That seemed like a clever plan for a moment, a faint light amidst the darkness around him. But Lloyd didn't give up.
Grasping at straws, he tried another question.
Then, how about an alternative solution? Is there any other method that doesn't involve either of us dying? Any way to slow the restoration of destiny?
[There is none.]
Its curt response severed Lloyd's last strand of hope. Even after that, he tossed out a few questions in the hopes that one of them would work, such as making a declaration to give over the protagonist's role to Javier or revealing that he was not the real Lloyd and asking for everyone's forgiveness. Better yet, leaving the fiefdom altogether. Lloyd tested any idea he could think of using the Jewel of Truth. But the answer he received remained the same.
[It is impossible.]
It was beyond him why all of his suggestions were rejected. Maybe it was because he was labeled as an error, and there was no way of changing that. Perhaps the story had deviated too far from the original plot for his proposed plans to work. There was only one thing that was clear for him.
It's me or Javier. Just one of us. That's the only solution.
Suddenly, it felt like his vision clouded over with darkness. Even as the Jewel of Truth created massive waves above him that crashed against the dam and overflowed into the spillway, Lloyd was blind to what was going on around him. He couldn't even care to notice anything.
What am I supposed to do now?
It felt like his heart was being ripped in half. Javier, unaware of his feelings, continued to ask if he was okay with his gaze.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Really," managed Lloyd. He forced himself to smile. But Javier was unconvinced. The knight asked through his gaze if the Jewel of Truth had not given him an answer, or worse, if it provided a nonsensical response based on the grim look on his face.
"I've found the answer. And thankfully, it's nothing strange. It looks like we can stop the restoration of destiny without much difficulty."
If one of us dies, that is. Lloyd smiled, thinking to himself.
The more his heart continued to throb, the bleaker his situation seemed to be. Lloyd tried to put on a brighter smile. And later, even on his way up to the surface with Javier, he continued brooding over the matter. But nothing in particular came to his mind.
This is bad. I really don't see a way out this time.
A sudden desire to bury his face in his hands came over him.
Scams and tricks only work when there's a loophole I can take advantage of. They work by exploiting a weak point that no one else can see. But this time, there's no loophole for me to use. The Jewel gave a clear-cut response with no room for interpretation. There is no other way out of this situation without choosing between me or Javier.
One of the two had to die or vanish from this world. There was no other answer. No matter how hard Lloyd agonized and thought over the issue, he couldn't find a clever solution.
What if one of us went to another dimension?
Asking Dragon King Verkis to send him to another dimension seemed doable.
Like the last time I went to Seoul.
He could go or send Javier. The person who left would never come back. That would stop the restoration of destiny without a doubt.
I don't like that thought, though. No, I hate the idea.
Lloyd shook his head forcefully.
It wouldn't be right for me to send Javier away. Even if I don't have a conscience, I know that would be going too far. But on the other hand, making myself return to Seoul sounds even worse.
The mere thought of returning to Seoul and staying there forever made his nose scrunch up.
I hate that city.
Lloyd honestly despised the place. He knew no one and was practically an orphan there. Plus, the city was filled with bad memories rather than good ones for him.
That's why I busted my gut in this world. I saw my chance to live a more meaningful, happier life here. Whereas in Seoul, I was going to die after living a life of emptiness.
That was why Lloyd was able to accomplish so much here. And thanks to it, the fruits of his labor were beginning to emerge recently. For the first time in his life, he was treated with dignity, respect, and admiration.
Yet, I need to throw all that away and go back to Seoul? Not a chance.
The more he toyed with the idea in his head, the sicker he felt.
Plus, if I get there, I'll be Lloyd Frontera. Not Kim Suho. I'll have no family, home, property, bank account, passport, or even a transportation card. I'll be a poor, undocumented immigrant as soon as I get there.
Death seemed to be a better choice than going back. Lloyd naturally drew a conclusion from that.
I'm scrapping any plans of going back to Seoul.
He would look for other methods instead. There had to be a way out that he wasn't seeing. A brilliant, clever scheme was certainly waiting to be unearthed by him.
I still have some time. There are still two years left until the restoration of destiny begins. And if I need more time, I'll just freeze the flow of time and try to think of something.
There was no need to rush into disappointment just yet, let his heart drown in despair, or give up hope. With that resolve, Lloyd rose toward the surface with his legs. He wrapped up his thoughts, calculations, and final decisions in a span of a few seconds as he swam up. A cheering crowd greeted him as soon as his head popped above the water.
"Huraaaaay!"
"Eh…?" He blinked hard as exclaiming voices boomed across the land. As he removed a cluster of hair stuck to his face, Lloyd looked around to find a cheering crowd.
"The water flowed just as you had designed! It is a success, Master Lloyd!"
"Sir Bayern…?" Sir Bayern came into Lloyd's view. He was standing on the edge of the lake that was created from the dam. Lloyd also noticed the engineers with shovels in their hands. They were not, however, the only ones he saw. There were members of the White Cavalry shouting and scribbling something on their hands on the other side of the dam. Lloyd's senses as a swordmaster allowed him to pick up on some of their words.
"Hey, do you have any coal left?" Vice Commander Orlando asked the guy beside him.
"Ah, hold on, Sir Orlando," muttered the guy. "I'm writing something on my palm right now."
"I'll forget what I was planning to write at this rate."
"I can write for both of us," replied the soldier casually, still focusing on his writing.
"Then make sure you don't make a mistake. As far as I can remember, Master Lloyd cleans his ear from the bottom."
"Yes, I remember, too. Then, he goes clockwise. It was five rounds in each direction. Right?"
"You are right," Orlando affirmed. "It did say that. Make sure to write that down. That's the ear-cleaning method of a sword master. It may seem like nothing but could hold an important meaning that we haven't realized yet."
"Of course," observed the guy, still jotting down, "After all, this is a routine habit of a man who is a swordmaster."
"Indeed. We must follow his ways and learn from them at every chance. This is the best and most updated form of education we can get."
"You are right, sir. We must overcome our own swordmaster syndrome soon too."
"That is what I'm talking about!"
These kinds of unbelievable conversations were taking place amongst the White Cavalry.
Stop it, you nut-jobs. I can understand your desperation because I've suffered from it too... But this is just too much.
Lloyd felt a shaft of fright run over his body. But he had no choice but to deal with it because even after those burdensome praises, exclamations, and compliments, a slew of new cheers appeared. When Lloyd met the orc warriors, their faces turned scarlet as they shouted, "I knew Lloyd could do it! Lloyd is our friend, oink!" "Lloyd is awesome!" "He made a large dam, oink!" "Lloyd is cool! He even constructed the Jewel of Truth, oink!" "But he can't find a girlfriend, oink!"
Their passionate, over-the-top reaction was infectious. Even Moira, the elf chief, was affected by it.
"Lloyd Frontera, you are truly amazing," remarked Moira when she bumped into Lloyd.
"Excuse me...? What are you talking about?" replied Lloyd, baffled.
"I have seen it with my own eyes."
"Seen what...?"
"The Jewel of Truth's activation," she explained softly. "The wave in the artificial lake spilled into the spillway extremely smoothly. Your actions saved a host of plants as a result."
"Oh, do you mean the bushes growing around the lake?" Lloyd did remember them.
"Yes," she affirmed as she put her hand over to her chest. "I was touched just like the time you moved all the plants around the construction site of the dam that would be hit with its waves."
"Oh." Lloyd put on an embarrassed smile. "That's because those plants were valuable medicinal-"
"I am sure," Moira broke in, "You built the dam considering even something like this in mind. What a kind man you are."
Saving a bunch of medicinal plants happened by chance. It was an unintended outcome of his actions. As a result, he could only give an embarrassed smile in response to the compliments he received. Moreover, to be honest, Lloyd didn't have time to acknowledge every compliment he was given. He was smiling on the outside, but there was a storm inside him.
It's me or Javier.
The tyrannical path of destiny would only stop if one of them died. What kind of disgusting joke was this? Every time he thought about it, his head ached. It never occurred to him that the Jewel of Truth he had worked so hard to construct would present him with such an awful solution to prevent the restoration of destiny.
Oh, crap.
Would he be able to find the solution if he continued to ponder like this? What if he was wasting his time here? Even as he reassured himself that everything would be fine, Lloyd had to fight and suppress the ball of nervousness that was growing inside him.
And yet... people are praising me, totally ignorant of everything.
Lloyd suddenly felt a surge of loneliness. He wanted to share his worries with someone, but no one knew he even had any concerns. This made him feel like a lost child, separated from everyone. After five days of forcing himself to laugh over meaningless compliments and put on a bright smile, someone at the dinner table extended a helping hand to him.
"You have had a gloomy expression on your face recently. Is something troubling you?" Countess Marbella carefully asked him a question as if she was gently patting him on the back.
